


Vulnera Sanentur

by fanfairmod



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-16
Updated: 2014-10-16
Packaged: 2018-02-15 15:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2233821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfairmod/pseuds/fanfairmod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry can't believe what's on the list of required textbooks Teddy needs for his next year of Hogwarts. For DADA it's  <i>Some Bloody Idiot Might Cast It, So You'd Better Be Able to Counter It</i> by Draco Malfoy. Harry thinks the title refers to him casting Sectumsempra on Draco Malfoy in their sixth year and goes to confront him. Written by <a href="http://sw33tch3rrypi3.livejournal.com/">sw33tch3rrypi3</a>.</p><p><b>Career Choices:</b> Harry: Stay-At-Home (God)Father; Draco: Textbook Author</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vulnera Sanentur

**Author's Note:**

  * For [momatu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/momatu/gifts).



> For [Prompt # 8](http://hd-fan-fair.livejournal.com/74208.html?thread=3490272#t3490272).
> 
> I want to say thank you to the fest mods, of course, and I definitely want to thank my pinch-hit beta, broken_amethyst, for her brilliant (and fast!) work. Most of all, however, I want to thank all of you…the HP fanfic community. This community has held me together during one of the roughest years of my life, and I love you dearly for that. I hope you enjoy this silly little story. xx

“ -- and Stella Wood has been Quidditch captain of Gryffindor for an entire year, but I already told you that. So if Sophie is named captain for Slytherin now that Matthias Tramble graduated, her sister will -- mmf fwor hummp eef rerm!”

The rest of Teddy’s sentence was lost as he crammed his mouth full of toast. Harry shook his head as he transferred a second slice onto his godson’s plate and pushed the butter and jam across the table. “Manners, Ted. Wait until you swallow and then finish.”

Teddy had come to live with Harry at the age of seven, when Andromeda had succumbed to Magic Wasting Disease after years of battling the ailment. Harry, twenty-two at the time, had been plodding through his Auror training as everyone expected, pretending he didn’t hate it. Laying in bed every night and telling himself it was his duty. After all, he had already broken Ginny’s heart as gently as he could and then shocked everyone by coming out of the closet. He owed it to them to be what they expected in some manner, didn’t he?

Then that skinny little pink-haired boy had come into his life, and the only thing that mattered was his well-being. Months on Teddy continued to cry out nightly for his Grandmother, lasting well past the time Harry was supposed to return to work. Harry had extended his leave three times before finally sending in his resignation. He’d been a stay-at-home parent ever since, living off of the fortunes left to him by his parents and Sirius and raising Teddy using the trust set up for him by Remus, Tonks and Andromeda.

On far too many nights Harry, having heard Teddy creep with frightened whimpers through the dreary halls of Grimmauld Place, found him staring miserably at the spot where his Grandmother’s face had been burned from the family tapestry. Harry had sold the house and purchased a light, bright flat in Marylebone filled with pictures of friends and family, including Teddy’s parents and Andromeda. And when the prestigious Muggle primary school Harry had chosen “strongly suggested” that Teddy not come to class with “unnaturally colored” hair again, he’d switched his godson into an inclusive wizarding one, where Teddy was welcome to wear whatever hair color and eye color he wished and even change them throughout the day.

And when, nearly six years ago, Teddy had started Hogwarts and been sorted into Slytherin, Harry had pushed aside any remaining bitterness and written Teddy how proud he was.

Harry dropped his fork and leaned back in his chair, watching the tall, lanky boy across from him finish his own breakfast. He could hardly believe that Teddy would be starting his sixth year tomorrow.

“Defense ‘gainst the Dark Arts is gonna be great this year! Aunt Ginny -- er, Professor Zabini, I mean --”

“It’s fine, Ted, just not at school.”

“Well, anyway, last week she said that we’ll start learning to counter some wicked spells this year. We’re gettin’ a new book, too, so mmrf --” Teddy swallowed the bite of egg he’d shoved into his mouth. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly at Harry’s pointed look.

Harry smiled. “Better.” He pushed back his chair and began to clear the table. “Are you finished? Yes? Go clean your teeth and brush your hair. I imagine the owl will be here with your list any minute. We’ll leave as soon as we have it.”

No sooner had Teddy run up the stairs to his bathroom than a grayish-brown owl was pecking at the window just over the kitchen sink where Harry was loading the dishwasher. He reached out and raised the sash, letting the creature flap into the room.

“Mind the china, please,” Harry said as the bird swooped in a circle about the small room. It finally alighted on Harry’s shoulder, and then reached up to take the scroll from its leg. “Thank you.”

The owl stretched its neck, turning its head 180-degrees and staring moodily from its upside-down position.

“Oh, and there’s a box full of owl treats hanging just there on the tree.” Harry pointed out a fir just a few feet from the window, and the owl instantly flapped away in that direction and began glutting himself. Harry shook his head with a grin and closed the window. Some things never changed.

He lifted his coffee mug from the kitchen counter and took a sip while he unrolled the scroll nimbly with one hand. Number four copper cauldron…one jar each of urchin spines, mayfly wings and yeti fur – Damn, that would be a difficult one. Borgin & Burke’s, maybe? -- one obsidian spade…Value Your Wands and Cauldrons: Protection Charms for Young Adult Health by Penelope C. Goodlai -- Good Merlin, was it time for that already? Harry looked toward the stairs and wondered if he should have “the talk” with Teddy tonight. He grimaced, and then sighed as he turned back to the list. Bob Bigelow’s Special Edition Broom Maintenance Kit…Some Bloody Idiot Might Cast It, So You’d Better Be Able to Counter It by…

Harry jerked upright with a start from where he’d been leaning against the counter. Draco Malfoy had written a book? A dark arts defense book? His eyes went back to the title, and shame and regret slid sickly through his gut.

“Ready, Harry?” Teddy strolled into the kitchen looking every bit the handsome young adult that he was, and Harry made a mental note to have that chat with him tonight. There was a different uncomfortable conversation he needed to have first, though.

“Yeah, let’s go. Say, how about we ask Aunt Ginny to go with us?”

^^^

“Are you serious about using this book?” Harry hissed in a half-whisper as he and Ginny strolled about ten feet behind Teddy down Diagon Alley. They only had Teddy’s books left, and Harry had been putting off this discussion. It had occurred to him that perhaps his friend was playing some sort of prank.

Ginny turned her head to look at Harry, her bobbed hair swinging around her chin, and then rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion. “Are we really switching roles? ‘The war is over, Ginny. Give Zabini a chance, Ginny. The war is over, Ginny. He’s a good Auror, Ginny…’” She mocked him in a false, gruff voice.

Harry frowned and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “Yes, well, I was correct about him.”

Ginny’s lips curved as she smoothed a hand over the small bump beneath her sunflower yellow top. “I should say so.”

“Are you sure you should be --”

“Harry James Potter, if you again suggest I not teach this term simply because I happen to be pregnant, you’ll go home with your nose in the centre of your forehead.”

He lifted a hand defensively and put a couple more inches between them. “Okay, okay. Back to the other issue then. I still want to know what you were thinking.”

Teddy had stopped to stare into the window of Quality Quidditch and talk to some other teenage boys, so Ginny and Harry paused, as well.

“I was thinking that I wanted the best book I could get for my students, Harry. After all, they don’t have the advantage that I did of having the best teacher.” She peeked at him from the corners of her eyes and smirked.

“You’re fishing.” Harry crossed his arms. “You know you’re every bit as good at defense as I am, Ginny.”

The redhead coughed delicately.

“Sorry, you’re better.”

Ginny smiled and linked both of her arms through one of Harry’s as they began to walk again. “Very good. Now I can’t be mad at you. But watch what you say about Draco. He’s still Blaise’s best friend, you know, and we see him often. Even if I didn’t feel duty-bound to talk him up, Harry, he deserves it. He’s a good writer -- great, actually. And he knows the material. He may have gotten it from the wrong angle, but he knows things even I didn’t. You aren’t going to talk me out of using this book, so don’t try.”

They walked quietly for a minute, enjoying the sunny day, until Teddy stopped again when he met up with a pretty female classmate.

“His, motives, though…” Harry began, trailing off. He felt awkward discussing what he was thinking.

Ginny sighed. “Harry, three years ago I would have said the same thing. You know I would have. And I still won’t say that Draco is always nice. But then, neither is my husband.” Her lips curled into a secretive smile as she looked out toward the horizon.

“Less of that, please,” Harry said, nudging her gently with his elbow.

“Sorry. Anyhow, Draco made peace with me -- and no, I won’t tell you what he said. He never protested my relationship with Blaise. He never makes comments about my family. And he has treated me well. I believe his motives for writing this book are good, and I am going to use it in my class.” She turned her head to look earnestly at him. “So I will, actually, tell you what you told me: The war is over, Harry. Give him a chance.”

Harry mulled over her words, unable -- or perhaps unwilling -- to ask Ginny his final questions about why Malfoy had used that particular title. “Good advice, was it?”

She leaned her head against his shoulder and caressed her stomach again with a happy sigh. “The best.”

  
^^^

The bell on the door of Flourish & Blott’s chimed as Harry and Ginny followed Teddy inside. Harry closed his eyes for a moment and his lips curled slightly as he breathed in the familiar scent. It seemed like only yesterday he’d walked into the shop for the first time, Hagrid by his side, his eyes bulging as he tried to take in everything at once.

“Teddy!” Harry opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder to see Rose Weasley quickly approaching, followed by her smiling parents. She barreled into Teddy, squeezing him tightly, and the poor boy turned as red as Valerian root. Yep, Harry conceded, time for that talk, then.

“We thought we’d run into you much earlier,” Hermione said as she and Ron joined the group. “We’ve nearly finished collecting Rosie’s things. We already have her books, actually, but she spotted Draco and wanted to ask him to sign her DADA textbook.”

Ron snorted as Hermione finished, and she elbowed him in the side. Harry sort of agreed, but he had decided long ago not to make disparaging remarks about Malfoy within Teddy’s hearing.

“That’s your cousin, right, Teddy?” Rose asked, leaning close. “He wrote the new book we’re using, did you know? You should ask him to sign yours, too!”

Teddy took a step back. “Er, yeah. Yeah…that sounds like a good idea. I think I’ll go do that…right now.”

“I’ll come with you!”

“Oh no, Rose. We’re going to go through the queue and then go have lunch.” Ron cut his eyes to a clearly grateful Teddy, and then winked at Harry. Harry bit his lip against a chuckle, wondering if his friend was having flashbacks to Lavender Brown. While she had toned down a great deal due to her affliction – and being married to Seamus Finnegan, who was prone to take on anyone he thought was giving her the eye – Lav-Lav still had a special smile for the redhead any time they ran into each other.

“I’ll go with you, if Harry doesn’t mind,” Ginny said to her brother. “I’m feeling knackered.” Harry shook his head when she looked at him, to show it was fine. “Rosie can show me all of her new things,” she added, attempting to cheer her niece, who looked forlorn to have her time with Teddy cut short.

“Thanks anyway, Rose,” Teddy said graciously. “Harry can go with me to find Draco. Right, Harry?” He smiled hopefully at his godfather. Harry just managed to hold in a sigh.

“Right.”

  
^^^

Harry thought he was mentally prepared to see his old rival again. Raising Teddy, he had actually imagined the scenario multiple times. He thought he had concocted every possible manner in which the encounter could go. What he had not been prepared for was how bloody fit Draco Malfoy was. The stupid prat.

“Hello, Potter.” The blond seemed mildly surprised as Harry and Teddy approached a table stacked with the DADA textbook. He was dressed professionally in beige trousers and a white button-down, but he’d rolled up his shirtsleeves and draped his beige shortrobes over the chair pushed beneath the table. He looked entirely too approachable.

“Malfoy,” Harry nodded, "We heard there was a celebrity here giving autographs.” He smiled slightly to show his jest, but he still expected the other man to blow up.

Draco surprised him again by chuckling. “Hardly. The owner asked me to hang about in case any parents had questions about the content of the book, since…well, you know.” A light blush swept across his prominent cheekbones and Harry chastised himself for finding it cute. “I’ve signed exactly one autograph, actually, for Weasley’s daughter. She is clearly smart enough to know quality when she sees it. Must take after her mother.” He winked and smirked, immediately diffusing Harry’s growing ire and leaving him in a strange place.

“Would you sign another?” Teddy stepped forward into the awkward silence, reaching for a book from the table. “You signed one for Rose and she’s a Ravenclaw. Surely you’ll sign one for a Slytherin…for your cousin?” He smiled shyly.

The smile dropped from Draco’s face and he drew a breath. He reached out toward Teddy’s arm before catching himself and pulling his hand back. He seemed stunned. “Nymphadora’s son. And Lupin’s. Of course. I – of course. Salazar, you look like your father,” he said hoarsely.

Teddy flushed, pleased, and grinned. “Did you know him, then? Harry said he taught Dark Arts defense at Hogwarts one year. That’s why it’s my favorite subject. Well, also because Aunt Ginny teaches it and kids used to say rubbish to me because my parents are dead. But after the class demonstrations they’re dead scared of her and they leave me alone. Harry was in his class. Dad’s, I mean. You were at Hogwarts with Harry, right? So you must have been in his class, too!”

Draco smirked at Harry. “Guess he takes after my cousin, also,” he said, prompting a half-surprised, half-amused look from Harry. Draco’s smile became slightly sad as he turned his attention back to Teddy. “I knew your father. He was a very good teacher.” As if to change the subject, he reached out to take the book from Teddy’s hands and flipped open the cover. “I am glad to sign this. But you must do me a favor in return.”

Teddy chewed his lower lip thoughtfully. His eyes narrowed. “Er…what is it?”

Draco's eyes sparkled. “Oh yes, you were well sorted. Anyhow, I have added my contact information inside your book, as well. I would very much appreciate an occasional owl. Or, you could even floo call, if you like,” he finished almost bashfully.

Harry swallowed deeply as a decades-old rift began to heal. He also suspected he might leave the shop with a bit of a crush.

Teddy took the book back and smiled. “Cool.”

Harry clapped a hand on Teddy’s shoulder. “Hey buddy, do you mind browsing around a bit? I’d like to have a chat with your cousin.” He added the last looking at Draco, who, he was gratified to see, appeared startled. It was nice to not be the only one. Teddy headed into the wizarding graphic novel section, and Harry drew another deep breath, wondering where to begin.

“Please don’t ask me not to write to him,” Draco said softly.

Harry floundered for a moment. He'd never thought that Draco would even wonder that was what he wanted to talk about with him. “No!” he burst out, and then cringed when people around them turned to see what the noise was about. “No, I would never,” he said firmly but in a much quieter tone. “I’m glad you want to get to know him, for his sake.”

Draco moved back behind the table and began stacking books. “It should have been mended when Mother was still alive,” he said softly. “After Father was gone, and she no longer had to care for his opinion,” he added a bit harshly.

“I, er, was sorry to read about her passing. The same illness that took Andi, wasn’t it?”

“Thank you, Potter. Yes. Healers are beginning to think there might be a genetic component, since they often see multiple cases in close relatives and no cases at all in other families. Makes me glad I won’t have my own children, actually.”

Harry blinked. “You won’t? Was it – was it something during the war?” he asked, feeling they were finally approaching the issue he wanted to discuss.

Draco smirked. “It was everything during the war, Potter. Or, more accurately, it was me during the war. How likely is a former Death Eater to be a good father? Or even a good husband, for that matter?”

Harry shook his head. “You were a child, and the war is over, Malfoy.” For the first time, he really felt what he was saying in a way he had not even when encouraging Ginny to date Blaise Zabini.

A small flash of teeth showed as Draco nearly smiled. “Yes, well, I wish everyone felt that way. It’s just as well that I’m gay.”

Harry felt his face go hot. Suddenly, the brief thought he’d entertained of what Malfoy might look like naked seemed much more dangerous. “Yes, well.” He coughed. “I know how that goes.”

“Oh, yes? I had forgotten. I suppose you do.” Draco gave him a considering look, and Harry thought the time had come to just jump in.

“Look, I, uh, wanted to apologize. For the bathroom thing.”

The blond looked mildly puzzled, but waved his hand as if brushing away an invisible insect. “It’s long forgotten, Potter.”

Harry sighed. “I’d hardly say that, if you wrote an entire book because of it. Look -- ”

A shocking burst of laughter shot from Draco’s throat, and his entire face lit with amusement. “You think this book is about you? Look, Potter, I’ll admit – I was a bit obsessed with you in school. I thought it was unfair that I was beaten in everything by you when you lived so long not even knowing you could do magic. At times I was consumed with thoughts of getting revenge. I had a particularly favorite fantasy in which you snuck into the Forbidden Forest and were surrounded by werewolves and I was the only person around. You begged me to help you, and I just left you…” He sobered quickly. “I’ve moved past that, Potter. I’d hoped you had, too.”

Harry frowned, thinking that Draco was lying. He knew the title of that book was no coincidence. But there was something more pressing that occurred to him during Draco’s monologue. “Actually, Malfoy, I also wanted to ask…”

“Are you ready, Harry?” Teddy came up with a couple of comic books in hand. “We can still get ice cream, yeah? I want chocolate.”

Harry looked at Teddy, and then back to Draco, torn. He couldn’t really continue the conversation in front of his godson.

“Why don’t you come by my flat tomorrow, Potter? Tea time? I think we should get reacquainted.” Draco’s conspiratorial smirk seemed to say that he understood.

Harry nodded firmly. “Three, then?” At the blond’s nod, Harry gestured Teddy toward the tills. “See you then.” Teddy waved goodbye, and they moved toward the front of the shop. Harry still felt disoriented, as if something significant in his life – an elemental truth – had shifted, and nothing would ever be the same. Most worrisome, however, was that he found it exciting.

  
^^^

Seeing Teddy off the next morning was as difficult as ever. Harry watched with a lump in his throat as the Hogwarts Express left the station, not turning to go himself until no echo of the sound of the engine remained. He was in no hurry to get home; the flat was far too quiet and empty without his godson there. In the end, he decided to spend the hours until his meeting with Draco visiting a couple of museums and then window shopping.

At fifteen minutes before three o’clock he headed to the nearest Apparition point, double-checked the address he had copied from Teddy’s textbook, and then Apparated to a café he knew was a couple of blocks from Malfoy’s house. After a ten-minute walk he reached the pale, smooth stucco building with a graceful dark trim. The door opened just as he raised a hand to knock.

“Welcome, Potter.” Draco wore a semi-smirk, as if he might be as unsure of the merit of this idea as Harry.

He showed Harry into the living room, where a teacart had already been set up between an elegant sofa and a wingchair. “It’s Sabby’s day off, so if the tea is rubbish you can thank Granger-Weasley,” he said lightly.

Harry waited for a scathing remark, but none came, and he decided to accept the comment in good humor. He chuckled as he took a seat on the chesterfield. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

Draco poured, and then cleared his throat as he stirred two sugars into his own cup. “I assume you wanted to discuss something better unsaid in front of Teddy.”

Harry replaced the milk jug and sat back in his seat with a sigh. “You assume correctly.” He bit his lip, searching for the correct words. “Look, Malfoy, I know Teddy is your cousin. For that reason, maybe you have more right to him than I have…”

Draco sat up sharply, surprised. “I would never attempt to take him from you, Potter. After so many years? That would be indescribably petty. I believe the fact that we are sitting here without having hexed each other demonstrates that neither of us would stoop to that level,” he finished a bit angrily.

Harry held up a placating hand, even as he winced at the reminder of what they needed to discuss. “That isn’t what I meant, Malfoy, truly. Damn, I’m bollocksing this.”

Draco relaxed, calm but puzzled now, and waited for him to continue.

“I’ve never said anything negative about you to Teddy. He has no idea what our relationship was like at school. As far as he knows, we were casual acquaintances.”

Malfoy blinked rapidly several times. “I – I appreciate that, Potter. Surely he has heard things from his classmates, however --”

Harry shook his head. “You would be surprised. Kids his age are interested in other things. I know the staff shuts down that sort of gossip, too. Neville won’t stand for it, and of course, you’ve managed to gain Ginny as your champion.” He smiled.

Draco laughed outright, surprising Harry into nearly sloshing his tea over the edge of his cup.

“Blaise managed, more like. I can assure you, the first several times we were thrown together I was victim to some of her more creative hexes.”

Harry sat his cup and saucer aside with a weaker smile. “Which brings us to what I wanted to ask, actually. I would be grateful if you didn’t mention our history to Teddy in your letters or calls. Especially…you know…the bathroom.”

Draco mimicked Harry’s actions, placing his tea on the edge of the cart. He clasped his hands in his lap and turned fully toward Harry. “I can assure you, I had no intention to do so. I would hardly be flattering myself by recounting the past. Perhaps it’s selfish, Potter, but I don’t want Teddy to know who I was. I want him to like me.” His voice got very soft. “I want…I want him to be proud to be my cousin.”

Impulsively, Harry placed a hand atop Draco’s. “He does, and he is. At King’s Cross he was already bragging to everyone about your book.” He pulled his arm back and drew in a breath. “Speaking of the book, I wanted to apologize again. You’re right, I was a bloody idiot. I had no idea what that spell would do, and I cast it anyway.”

Draco shook his head ardently. “Potter, I’ve told you, I did not write that book because of what happened in the bathroom.”

“But -- ”

“I didn’t! It barely even scarred, I hardly think of it Potter, truly.”

“It scarred?!” Harry’s stomach swooped with guilt.

Draco sighed. “It doesn’t matter, Potter,” he mumbled. “Can we just change the subject, please?”

Harry thought for a moment, feeling he would not get Draco to admit why he’d written the textbook on this visit. “I was thinking perhaps you would like to have Teddy for part of the Christmas holidays. You could even spend Christmas day with us, if you like, and take him home that evening. We can work out later which weeks you would like to have him during the summer.”

Draco's face lit up. “Truly? And -- and you think he would like that?”

“Oh, he’d love it. Also, Ginny’s brothers and Zabini and Teddy and I tend to play several friendly games of Quidditch during the summer. You should join us. I usually play Keeper now, and a great Seeker is always welcome.”

The blond blushed lightly at the compliment. “So, we’re to be friends, then?”

Harry considered, and then nodded once. He held out his hand. “Friends.”

Draco eyed Harry’s outstretched palm, and then smirked.

“Oh, just shake, Malfoy,” Harry said, rolling his eyes.

“Better late than never, eh?” Draco shook his hand, and the thing was done.

  
^^^

Over the next several months, Harry and Draco seemed to find many reasons to be in each other’s company. They shared many lunches, dinners and teas, and Harry invited Draco several times to be his “plus 1” at events – as friends, he was always hasty to specify. For several weeks, they maintained that their friendship was for Teddy’s sake, and each brought him up in conversation often as if desperate to preserve that façade.

By the sixth week, however, Harry was no longer lying to himself. He liked Draco, damn it. Liked liked him. The man was gorgeous, and funny and smart. And he was only the worst person for Harry to have a crush on. After all, he had written an entire book around the worst thing Harry had ever done. And he had scars. Clearly, any hopes of romance that Harry might have entertained in his most secret of imaginings were pointless.

What really hurt, however, was Draco’s conviction that he was no good for anyone because of his past. He seemed resigned to a solitary life, and had made several off-hand comments about it during their time together. Harry contradicted him every time, encouraging him to meet someone while wishing that someone could be him. It always left him feeling as if he’d been hit with a Disemboweling Curse.

Ten days before the Christmas holidays were to begin, Harry received an owl from the school. All of the parents were being invited to a pre-break Christmas party at the castle, and his invitation included personal notes from Neville – now Headmaster – and Ginny, asking him to please attend. Harry smiled. They knew he was usually not fond of parties, but this was not only a chance to see Teddy early, but an opportunity to spend time with Draco.

It took several minutes for Draco to answer Harry’s floo call, and when he did, Harry could see wet hair and smooth, pale bare shoulders. His mouth dried up.

“Potter? Apologies, I was in the shower. Sabby said someone very insistent was in the floo. I should have known.” He smiled, but then blanched. “Is it Teddy? Has something happened?”

Harry jerked himself from his stupor. “No, no. I didn’t mean to drag you out of the bath, sorry. It was just something silly that could wait.” He made to close the connection.

“Wait, Potter! What is it?”

Harry flushed. “Oh, well, I just received a note from Hogwarts about a pre-Christmas party all of the parents are invited to next Friday. I wanted to ask you to go with me.”

Even through the flames, he could see the tiny smile. “Really? Are you sure?”

“Of course. I mean,” Harry added hastily, “we’re friends, right?”

Draco’s look turned wary. “Friends…of course. Certainly I will accompany you. I’d like to see Teddy, as well.”

They cemented their plans and rang off, and Harry headed to the bathroom for a wank.

^^^

“Uncle Harry, have you seen Teddy?” Rose was speaking to him, but her eyes darted around the Great Hall frantically.

Harry tried valiantly not to laugh. “‘Fraid not, Rosie. Maybe he went out to the pitch?”

Rose’s eyes lit up and she scurried away without even a goodbye.

“That was terrible, Potter,” Draco chuckled.

Harry shrugged with a grin. “She’ll be fine. There are plenty of people actually out there.”

Draco stepped aside as Teddy sauntered up between them, looking distressed.

“You just missed Rosie, Ted. She went out to the pitch if you’d like to find her,” Harry teased. The boy didn’t even seem to hear him.

“Teddy?” Draco placed a hand on his shoulder. “What’s the matter?”

Teddy looked at his cousin with sad eyes. “It isn’t true. It can’t be true. Right, Draco? Please tell me it isn’t true.”

Harry’s gaze caught Draco's, and he saw the same foreboding there that was sliding through his gut.

“What isn’t true?” Draco prompted gently.

Teddy swallowed. “I was hiding from Rose and I walked behind Frances Edgecomb’s parents and they…they were talking about you. They…they said…”

Draco ran a hand over the back of Teddy’s head, prepared for what was coming. Subconsciously, he reached out with the other and Harry took it in a firm grasp.

“They said you’re a murderer,” Teddy whispered. “They said that you should be in Azkaban.”

Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Teddy -- ”

“It’s complete shit.”

Two sets of eyes fixed on Harry in surprise.

“It’s complete and utter shit,” he said, more angrily. “And I’ll tell the Edgecombs and everyone else right this second.” He started to pull away from Draco and head towards the direction Teddy had come.

“No, Potter, no.” Draco held fast to his hand and dug in his heels. “No…Harry. I don’t care about their opinion. Just Teddy’s. And yours.” He was looking at Harry with something akin to awe.

Teddy seemed vastly relieved. “I knew it couldn’t be true,” he said confidently, patting his cousin’s back. He grinned. “Of course, now everyone is going to be talking about the fact that you two are holding hands.”

Harry squeezed Draco’s hand when he would have broken contact, and looked around. The hall did seem quieter, and several gazes darted away when he met them. Oh, fuck it.

“Teddy, I’m going to take Draco home now. We’ll both come and get you in the morning, so be packed and ready.”

His godson grinned brilliantly. “And if someone asks me about…” he waved in the general direction of Harry and Draco’s clasped palms.

“Tell them that your godfather is in love with your cousin and nothing else is any of their damn business.”

  
^^^

They were kissing before they stepped from the floo, though it was less of a kiss and more of a rubbing of lips as they stumbled and laughed at their own foibles.

Draco pushed Harry away gently once they were on solid ground in Harry’s living room. “Why in the world didn’t you say something?”

Harry shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them off of Draco and shuffled his feet a bit, staring at the floor. “The book.”

“The textbook? What about it?”

“I just reckoned if you wrote an entire book because of what I did in that bathroom, you would never be interested in…in this,” Harry said on a sigh.

Draco stared for a second, and then threw back his head and laughed. “If I didn’t know that you really have no confidence, I would think you were the most arrogant prick in all of England.”

Harry stepped back and looked up, surprised. “What?”

“Let’s sit down.” They moved to the sofa and Harry sat, Draco dropped down on his hip beside him so that they could look at one another. “Oh Harry,” he muttered, “You really don’t listen.”

Harry frowned. “I’m listening now, Draco.”

He smiled at the enunciation. “I told you that book isn’t about what happened in the bathroom, and it isn’t. It isn’t really even about one thing. Writing it was something to keep me occupied when nightmares woke me up at night. It was part of my journey to figure out who I really am – who I wanted to be. It was part of my absolution. And it was inspired, or I suppose you could say the title was inspired, by Crabbe.”

Harry shuddered at the mention of nightmares, feeling Draco’s pain. He nearly wrapped his arms around the blond and forgot all about the conversation, but the last word caught his attention. “Crabbe?”

“Crabbe.” Draco nodded. “And the Fiendfyre. Which was what most of the nightmares were about,” he added.

“So – so it really isn’t about me.” Harry felt like a heavy burden had lifted from his shoulders when Draco smiled again, a truly amused smile.

“No.” He leaned forward and kissed Harry’s chin just beneath his lower lip. “It wasn’t about you. But this is.”

This time it was a real kiss, lips perfectly aligned to curl Harry’s toes inside his shoes. Without conscious thought, his hands went to the buttons on Draco’s shirt and he began to slowly undo each one, his lips following and sliding over each new inch of skin revealed while Draco’s lashes brushed against his cheeks as he sighed in pleasure.

Harry pulled away and gasped when he reached the first thin, raised white line. There were several more, criss-crossing Draco’s torso. He shrank back miserably. This was never going to work. “How do you not hate me?” he whispered. “You will hate me.”

Draco reached out and placed a hand on either side of Harry’s head, tilting it until their eyes met. “I never have. And I never will,” he said earnestly.

Harry leaned his face into one of Draco’s hands, turning and kissing the palm of the other. “How can you be so certain?”

“Because I love these scars. Because when I had nothing left, I had these scars, and they reminded me every day to work to be the person I am now, rather than the person who pushed you to give them to me. Because time heals all wounds, Harry. And these scars will remind us never to make the same mistakes again.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! All comments are extremely welcome either here or [on Livejournal](http://hd-fan-fair.livejournal.com/85832.html).


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